The Downward Spiral
by My Divinest
Summary: Zack can pinpoint the exact moment his life began to go horribly wrong. How lucky is he?
1. New York Minute

Disclaimer- if I owned anything...do you really think I'd be sitting on my butt writing fan fiction?? I don't own this song either. It's New York Minute, by Don Henley. I wrote this fast, so if it's not perfect, then don't shoot me.

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_**Harry got up, dressed all in black**_

_**Went down to the station, and he never came back**_

_**They found his clothing scattered somewhere down the track**_

_**And he won't be down on Wall Street anymore, now**_

There was once a time when he was one of them; once a time when he belonged. But now? All he had was his guitar.

It was raining outside, and Zack Mooneyham was sitting by himself at lunch. He'd taken a habit to this, ever since the band changed. He had his notebook filled with the music sheets that his father had bought him, kind of as a peace offering the day after Battle of the Bands. They got along better now. But that didn't matter. None of it did.

In the midst of win at Battle of the Bands, he'd gotten a girlfriend as well, Michelle. He knew it was clichéd, the guitarist going out with the groupie. But she was something special. Then...it had all fallen apart.

_**He had a home, love of a girl**_

_**But men get lost sometimes as years unfurl**_

_**One day, he crossed some line, and he was too much in this world**_

_**But I guess it doesn't matter anymore**_

****The fame had gone to their heads. They'd gotten money. The first ones they lost were the singers, Alicia, Marta and Tomika. Once the school had learned how well they could sing, they were wanted for all kinds of parties that already had bands, and just needed singers.

"We'll still be here," they said. "This is just a part-time thing, to earn some extra money."

Tomika had added that they were just trying to show the world how to stick it to the man. But Zack, Freddy, Katie and the others knew that wasn't true. The singers never came back to the band. They blew off practices, and they joined different social cliques. Marta became a cheerleader, Alicia joined all kinds of sports and Tomika became a drama freak.

_**In a New York minute, everything can change**_

_**In a New York minute, things can get pretty strange**_

_**In a New York minute, everything can change**_

_**In a New York minute**_

The next to go was Katie. She had been dating Freddy and they broke up. She couldn't handle the pressure anymore. She left the band, and surprised everyone by becoming a cheerleader like Marta.

The next to go, were the security and the groupies. They figured...hey, what the hell. There's no band...it's just a manager, a drummer, guitarist, and a keyboardist. Michelle leaving broke Zack's heart, but he knew what she was thinking.

Was the band really meant to be? Were they always meant to be? Their numbers were dwindling and none of them knew who'd be the next to go.

_**Lying here in the darkness, I hear the sirens wail**_

_**Somebody going to emergency, somebody's going to jail**_

_**You find somebody to love in this world,**_

_**You better hang on tooth and nail**_

_**The wolf is always at the door**_

Lawrence knew. How'd he know? He was next. His father found out how good he was at the keyboard, and the family decided to move to Ontario, where there was a very famous piano teacher living there, named Vincenzo Lucien. He jumped at the chance and didn't give the band a backward glance. At first he wrote a few times...but that failed. In Ontario he was considered a god and went out with all kinds of girls.

This left the band with a manager, a drummer and a keyboardist. Summer left next, complaining that they weren't doing anything worthwhile with they're time. She then campaigned for student body president, and could now be seen hanging signs with her picture on them, and the slogan: one more year!

_**In a New York minute, everything can change**_

_**In a New York minute, things can get a little strange**_

_**In a New York minute, everything can change**_

_**In a New York minute**_

Freddy was the next to leave. He met Zack at the practice hall. "Hey man." He said. "Listen I've been thinking. We're not much of a band anymore."

Zack knew where this was leading, but he fought it. "Yes we are. Lots of great bands have only a drummer and a guitarist."

"Like who?" Freddy challenged.

"Us!" Zack fought back.

"Zack...man we're not famous. We're not...we're not what we once were. Once we were great. But now we're not. Which is why I'm walking."

"You can't walk!" Zack protested.

"Oh yeah?" Freddy had always hated people telling him what to do, and Zack knew it. He winced. "Watch me!" he finished. Zack watched him storm out. And he was left along.

Freddy joined the skaters. He started wearing all black, hanging out behind the school, by the dumpsters, trying to figure out who could pull off the most extreme move and almost get themselves killed.

It was just Zack.

_**And in these days, darkness falls early**_

_**And people rush home to the ones they love**_

_**You'd better take a fool's advice than take care of your own**_

_**One day they're here, next day they're gone**_

Not many people were as lucky as Zack. Not many people can pinpoint the exact moment their lives began a downward spiral.

For Zack, it was the moment that Dewey walked out. He and Ned were moving, and forming a band in California with some old friends. He'd left a friend of his in charge of School of Rock, who'd eventually just sold them out for money. They ditched him and Summer began to take on more responsibilities.

_**Pulled my coat around my shoulders, took a walk down through the park**_

_**Leaves were falling around me, groaning city in the gathering dark**_

_**On some solitary rock, a desperate lover left his mark--**_

_**"Baby, I've changed, please come back"**_

Zack had repeatedly tried to get the band members to come back, but none of them would even talk to him. Michelle ended up breaking up with him for the quarterback of the football team. She said that he was holding on to the past and she couldn't be with him since he couldn't move on.

The only person who also sat alone was Eleni. She had quit the band at the same time as the other groupies, but she didn't really fit into a clique, so she sat alone. Zack looked for her at her table, and spotted her immediately. He tried to work up the courage to ask her to sit with him...even at the other end of the table so that they could be alone together. But he couldn't...he just couldn't.

_**What the head makes cloudy, the heart makes very clear**_

_**I know the days were so much brighter in the time when she was here**_

_**I know that somebody somewhere can make these dark clouds disappear**_

_**But until that day, I have to believe, I believe, I believe**_

He put his head back down to his music, and picked up his pencil. He did the same thing everyday and he silently cursed himself for it. Michelle was right. He was a loner. He was worse than a loner. He was a loner that was stuck in the past. A loner that was stuck in the past with no friends...none whatsoever.

_**In a New York minute, everything can change**_

_**In a New York minute, you can get out of the rain**_

"Hi Zack..." a quiet voice said. He froze, because he knew who it was. He looked up and confirmed it. Eleni was standing in front of him. "Can I...can I sit with you?" she asked, looking very frightened and small. He had to smile at the site and she loosened a bit.

"Sure, sit." He said. She sat in the seat across from him and smiled. She was really quite pretty when she smiled.

"What are you writing?" she asked.

"Oh, it's just a song." He said.

"A secret song?" she asked, shyly.

He grinned widely. This was the biggest smile he'd had since forever and he was amazed that it was _Eleni_ that was making it happen. "Yeah. It's a secret song. But...since I'm going to show it to you, it won't be a secret then, right?"

"Right." She agreed. He slid the book across the table to her and she read it. When she was done, she poured on her praise and he smiled. Maybe...just maybe his downward spiral was over. As they began talking animatedly, he knew it was a start...a start for a new future.

He was finally moving on.

_**In a New York minute, everything can change**_

_**In a New York minute**_

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Yeah ok so it's not that good. But I'm hoping it's not that bad either. Review either way.


	2. Authors Noteagain yessorry!

Alright guys….I'm sorry…I know you'll understand because you're cool like that. I'm going to use the last three chapters of The Downward Spiral for something else, in the future. Maybe a sequel, maybe I don't know. Maybe for something totally different.

But I intended for TDS to be a one-shot. And I think that it kind of ruins it being a story-story. Plus I have ABSOLUTLEY no idea where to go with it.

So my sincerest apologies.

Love you,

Amy


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